Recently in Psychology Category

I have a story in the Courant today about comedy improv groups around Connecticut. It's an entirely different kind of comedy from stand-up routines, or acting out written scripts, and I imagine the brain activity that goes on while doing improv is also very different.

While I doubt there have been any MRI studies of comedy improv players (logistically, it seems a tall order), there have been such studies of improvising jazz musicians. Turns out that neural activity while improvising is very different from what goes on in the brain when the same musician is playing from sheet music or a melody from memory.

What happened was that the changes occurred in the prefrontal cortex. There, the doroslateral prefrontal cortex - responsible for monitoring one's actions - shut down. Conversely, the medial prefrontal cortex - responsible for self-initiated thoughts and actions - went gangbusters with activity.

Archaeologists have found a flute made of bone at a cave in southwestern Germany. It's probably about 35,000 years old - that makes it one of the oldest instruments ever found. Also important is that, with five finger holes, it's the most complete flute found at the site, which has produced a number of flute pieces.

Before the archaeologists from the University of Tubingen excavated this site, most early musical instruments had been found in France and Austria. They weren't nearly as old, and there weren't as many. These finds, say researchers, paint a much more complete picture of the musical tradition of early Homo sapiens.

The notes on this flute, like many of the others found from this time period, are said to be remarkably similar to those on the Western music scale.

The find was reported today and published in Nature. And if you don't have access to Nature, there's a story at the New York Times.